An Empty Bed
by doctoring
Summary: Sometimes things don't work out with childhood romances, or friends with benefits in Kevin's case. And sometimes, it takes a bit of falling apart and loosing touch first, before you can come back together, even better. / Sequel to "No Holds BarrEdd"
1. Diminishment

_A/N: _This is a sequel to "Senior Trip Sleepover" and "No Holds BarrEdd" so you should probably go read those two first :)

* * *

The relationship between Kevin and Edd changed drastically after that first date. They spent most of the school day the next morning talking and bonding, finding more and more in common. But what they didn't find in common was post-high school plans. Kevin finally found out which college Edd had decided to go to, and it wasn't in state. It was _far_ from in state. Eleven hours from Kevin's chosen college, to be precise, and that's without taking in the possibility of traffic or construction along the way.

The sadness was palpable, and Kevin hated seeing Edd like that, so he wrote him a quick note and waited for the school day to end in ten minutes.

After school, he finds Edd in the science wing bathroom. Edd turns to him, holding up the note, and says, "We're just going to keep bringing up the Cold War anytime one of us wants to make out after school?"

Kevin grinned, closing the distance and pulling Edd close. "I was hoping so at least."

And after making out for a while, things seemed to return to normal for the boys. As they walked home, hand in hand, talking about all their summer plans, there was a sort of unspoken agreement. They weren't dating, they couldn't try, not with the impending long distance and them still being teenagers, but they will still do everything as if they were dating.

And this seemed to work for quite some time.

The rest of the school year was spent having deep discussions, bonding over silly things, a few more 'Cold War' sessions after school, and both boys crossing off a bucket list item of theirs.

For Edd, it was making out in the library, just past the reference section, where no mirror or camera could reach. Though they still almost got caught when Edd knocked over quite a few books trying to grip the shelving. He blamed Kevin though, since he was feeling him up and making his knees give out.

For Kevin, it was making out in the dugout of the baseball field behind school. Though Edd decided to pay him back for the library incident and take it a step further. As he sat straddled across Kevin's lap, Edd reached a hand down between them and started rubbing Kevin through his jeans. Once he realized Kevin forgot to wear a belt that day, he snuck his hand inside Kevin's pants. He didn't finish Kevin off, but that was the problem. They had snuck out during lunch, and when the bell rang, they raced back inside the building. Not only were they still quite late, but now Kevin had to sit in class, consumed by lust, for the remainder of the day.

At the end of the day, Kevin found out Edd had gotten in trouble for being late and kept apologizing profusely as they left the school building. Eventually Edd spun him around and kissed him hard, in the middle of the street, right in front of the school.

Kevin stood there dumbfounded, eyes darting slightly at all the students walking by slowly and now whispering.

Edd grabs his hand and leads the way home, both not saying anything until they were a good two blocks from school grounds.

"I can't believe I did that!" Edd exclaimed suddenly.

Kevin turned and noticed that he was blushing harder than he ever seen before. "Not that I'm complaining, because I'm definitely not, but why'd you do that?"

Edd sighed heavily. "I got tired of hearing you apologize for that. It's not that serious. I mean, tomorrow's the last day of school, and like they're going to give the valedictorian detention the day before graduation just for being four minutes late."

Kevin stops walking, and Edd jerks to a stop when Kevin pulls back on his hand. "Who _are_ you?"

Edd rolls his eyes. "I'm just saying, it wasn't that serious… and I didn't mind… mainly because it was you."

"It was me?"

Edd takes a few steps back, grabbing Kevin's other hand in his. "I know we were late because of… carnal reasons… but I don't mind being late for class because I was spending time with you. I never had such great conversations until you came along, and I feel like I can really be myself around you. I'm… I'm really glad we're so close now."

Kevin feels his heart swell, hearing that Edd feels the same way about him as he does, but as soon as the emotions overcome him, they break. He remembers that this isn't supposed to last.

But they still proceed to grow closer, talk more, go on pseudo-dates, and explore things sexually. So, by the time Kevin leaves for college, earlier than Edd because of football camp, he finds himself getting choked up.

They kept in touch via text and phone calls during the school year, still trying to remain close. They had deep late-night discussions and started sexting on occasion after Kevin sent him a picture with minimal clothing, claiming he was just trying to show Edd the injury he sustained in the recent game, but that didn't explain the lack of pants.

During breaks in the school year, they were sometimes lucky enough to cross paths, what with Edd taking summer class and Kevin's football practice. But when they did meet in person, it was like time had stopped between visits. They were just as close, just as fond of each other, and Kevin couldn't be happier.

But now it's fall semester of their sophomore year, and Kevin feels at a loss. Things feel… _off._

After a few weeks, Kevin started to realize that he was the one that always initiated conversation, was the one that always checked in on the other person, and Edd would only reply, if he did reply. His responses were starting to become shorter, and he found less time for Kevin.

Kevin tried to convince himself that this was due to Edd's schedule, but that doesn't mean the pain still wasn't there.

Kevin felt like their relationship is dwindling. Not just the physical side, but the emotional side. Because of that and his grandmother's declining health, he goes to therapy to figure out what to do besides sit in his sadness constantly. He tries to keep messaging Edd, keeping it purely PG, unlike the occasional flirty text he used to send. That seems to help a lot, prompting Edd to respond more, giving Kevin some relief.

Though he does greatly enjoy the friends with benefits relationship they have, he doesn't want to lose the friends part of it. He'd give up all physical contact with Edd, all flirty messages, everything, if he could remain friends. He realizes that no one makes him happy, no one expressed more pride in his successes, no one else he'd want to talk to about his highest highs and lowest lows, except Edd. And he likes to believe Edd feels the same way about him. He does. But with a month left in the semester, Edd seems more unresponsive to even the civil messages.

Kevin went home for winter break. He noticed Edd was home as well, judging by the light in the house, but he decided to let Edd make the first move.

It took two days. And it came in the form of a text that Kevin didn't want to ever see from him.

_Edd:_ We need to talk.

They agreed to meet at the swings by the old playground behind the cul-de-sac. They slowly swing in silence until Edd starts to ask Kevin about school and being home.

"What was it you wanted to tell me?" Kevin hated how harsh he sounded, how he had cut Edd off, but he wanted to get this over with so he could go home and cry.

"There's… there's someone from lab… who has expressed interest in dating me…"

"I see."

"And I… I would like to give it a shot…"

Only a few more words were exchanged until Kevin says, "I understand. Don't worry. I'll leave you alone now."

He sees Edd start to speak, but quickly clamps his mouth shut, looking away. Kevin tried bowing out as gracefully as possible, walking away calmly as if this didn't hurt him, but finds himself sprinting past the cul-de-sac, running until the pain in his chest was more from exercise and less from heartache.


	2. Back in Bed

Kevin returns home for a brief break the summer after his sophomore year in college. As he pulls up into the driveway, he sees that Edd's car is parked across the street. But what made him double take was the 'For Sale' sign in the front yard.

He gets out of his car and tries to take a closer look. He notices that there was a 'SOLD' sticker slapped across one side of the sign.

He thinks about Edd often, but they haven't talked since that day in the playground, when Edd mentioned his interest in someone else, so he seeing the sign came as a shock to him.

Kevin quickly goes inside to say hello to his parents, finding his mother clearly upset in the kitchen. He hugs her and she asks how he's doing. He shrugs, but sniffles, suddenly remembering the pain he felt last Christmas atop the pain he's feeling now because of his Grandmother's health.

His mother tilts his chin down so he's looking at her, and she says, "Do you need some time for yourself?"

Kevin nods.

"Okay… but whatever you do, wherever you go, just be back by tomorrow morning. You know why-"

"Yeah, Ma. Of course. I'm not going to miss out on saying goodbye to Grams. Don't worry."

She nods and lets him leave the kitchen.

Kevin takes a minute to compose himself before walking across the street. As soon as he knocks on the door of the Vincent house, well, soon to be formally the Vincent house, he regrets it. He's already turned away and walking down the drive when he hears the door open.

"Kevin?"

Kevin turns around grinning sheepishly at Edd.

"Oh, my goodness, it is you!"

Kevin about fell over backwards when Edd raced across the lawn and threw his arms around him in a tight hug. When Kevin regain his footing, he slowly wrapped his arms back around Edd and took a deep breath, trying to steady his emotions.

"I've missed you." Edd whispers in the crook of his neck.

Kevin bit his tongue against the harsh comments he wanted to say regarding that and instead just admitted his feelings instead. "I've probably missed you more."

He felt weak when Edd giggled against his neck. Edd then pulled back and just looked at Kevin, mouth opening a few times as if he was trying to find something to say, something to talk about, after so many months of silence.

Kevin tilted his head towards the sign in Edd's yard. "So… what's that about."

Edd looks towards the sign, his smile faltering a bit. "Do you… do you have a moment?"

"Uh, yeah… I'm free til the morning."

Edd immediately grabs his hand and drags him inside.

Kevin slowly takes his shoes off by the door, distracted by the sight around him. Boxes, tape, bubble wrap, and a whole assortment of other packing necessities. Edd then drags Kevin upstairs, Kevin looking around frantically, a bit unnerved at how the walls look so barren now. Edd pulls Kevin into his childhood room and then sits on the bed, pulling Kevin down with him.

He then explains how his parents are never home, Kevin recalling hardly seeing them in middle and high school whenever he was by. And with Edd now in college, they do not see the point in keeping a house that no one lives in for more than a week at a time. So, they sold it and bought a place on the other side of the country.

Edd then looks quite distraught as he says, "I never thought the day would come where I would be leaving Peach Creek for good… but here we are…"

They talk for a bit more, and Edd asks if Kevin could help him finish packing since he needs to claim everything he wants to keep before the movers come for the rest of the stuff on Friday. Kevin complies, though he's torn about it.

_It's bad enough Edd's dating someone else now, but now I'm helping him move away for good? What kind of masochist am I?_

As they packed up Edd's belongings, they made small talk, asking about classes, about friends, about anything significant they missed out on this past semester. It takes a while, but Kevin eventually asks what he's really wanting to know.

"So, how's your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?! I don't have a boyfriend…"

Kevin drops the book he was holding. He scrambles to pick it up. "Oh?" he says, hoping his voice sounded casual.

Edd scoffs. "The closest thing to a boyfriend I've ever had was whatever was going on with us and that one terrible date back in January."

"Wait… what terrible date?"

Edd starts laughing, shaking his head. He stops peeling off the labels off his desk and turns around, leaning against it as he talks. "So… what had happened waaaaas-"

"Uh oh." Kevin stands up from where he was kneeling by the bookshelf. "You're talking like Eddy, so I know this is going to be peak gossip."

Edd giggles, cheeks flushing a bit, and Kevin has to hold himself back from reaching out towards him. Edd then goes on to explain what made the date so terrible. How the guy of interest ended up being such a self-centered and close-minded person. And how he was tempted to sneak out and not return to the date, except they were in lab together, and he didn't know how he could face him for the rest of the semester if he did that.

As Edd continued to provide examples of the idiotic things his date said as well as examples of gross table manners he witnessed, Kevin started laughing louder and louder. Shaking his head, he said, "Why did you even go out with him in the first place? He sounds like such a horrible person!"

Edd shrugs and looks away. "I don't know. I guess I was a bit physically lonely, and he was there and interested… and he seemed _so nice_ when it came to all the flirting and whatnot. But on that date, I guess that's when he decided to let his true colors show. I felt like I was there for _hours_ just suffering."

Kevin laughed some more. "Dude. That must have sucked."

Edd shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't comparing him to you the whole time."

Edd clamps a hand over his mouth and looks worriedly at Kevin. He slowly removes his hands and starts fumbling on his words. "I…. I, uh…"

In two quick strides, Kevin stands in front of Edd, grabbing him by the shoulders and kissing him. He kisses him hard, desperate, and without giving Edd a chance to pull away. He kisses as if he was trying to make up for all the nights together that he missed out on if only he had just been honest about his feelings sooner.

But Edd doesn't try to move away or break the kiss. Instead, he pushes himself into Kevin, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, clinging onto him as if he was at risk of falling away.

Back in high school they worked their way up to deepening the kiss, with a quick slide of the tongue or a nip at the bottom lip. But now both boys acted as if there was no time for that, kissing deeply within seconds, hands and limbs scrambling to get closer than just pressed together.

Kevin felt Edd remove his hat and quickly rakes his fingers through his hair. Kevin moans into the kiss, bucking against Edd. He slides his hands up the back of Edd's shirt, lifting it, and Edd finally breaks the kissing, pulling his head back and panting hard.

Kevin slides his hands back down. "Sorry… I… That was too far, sorry."

Edd shakes his head and turns around quickly, reaching for the pull string for the blinds. They fall with a loud clatter. "There. Now you can do what you want."

Kevin gives him a sly grin before kissing him gently on the lips. He slowly lifts up Edd's shirt again, dragging in hands up his sides. "Do what I want?"

Edd nods.

"Whatever I want?"

Edd nods again. "Please."

Kevin moves closer to Edd, sliding his arms around to his back as he nuzzles against his shoulder. He works his mouth up Edd's neck, towards his ear, and then whispers, "What if I said I wanted to make love to you?"

Edd was slowly moving his hands across whatever parts of Kevin could reach, but as soon as the question was asked, his hands froze in place.

Kevin swallowed, worried he went too far, though he was being completely honest in what he wanted from Edd, wanted to do to Edd.

"I have… I have two conditions."

Now it was Kevin's turn to freeze in place, shocked that Edd didn't flat out reject him like he had expected.

"Okay… what are they?"

"We at least move from the desk to my bed, and that you go slow."

Kevin chuckled before kissing Edd's neck again. "Those were a given. But is there anything else you'd like?"

"I, um… Would you care if I started texting you again?"

Kevin knew his missed Edd, missed their talks, how close they were. And with what was happening right now, he knew his body missed Edd's as well. However, he didn't really know what he wanted, since thinking of Edd these past few months brought nothing but sorrow. But hearing those last few words made Kevin realize that that was what he wanted. Just the chance to be able to reach out to Edd once again.

Kevin kissed him full on the lips, gently holding his face. "I'd be upset if you didn't, but could it wait til after I make you cum?"

Edd rolled his eyes, but then gasped when Kevin suddenly picked him up by the waist. Edd immediately wrapped his arms and legs around Kevin, holding on tightly. Kevin slid his hands down until he was grabbing Edd's ass, holding him up like that.

As he slowly made his way to Edd's bed, Kevin took his time kissing Edd, who kissed back with plenty of happy sighs and moans. He gently laid Edd down onto the bed, as carefully as possible, but Edd just sat up immediately, pulling off his shirt, knocking his hat off kilter in the process. Kevin tears off his own shirt, and starts to undo his pants, when Edd moves to the edge of the bed.

"Let me."

Kevin stood there, watching as a flushed Edd slowly reached for his pants, carefully unbuttoning them. Kevin notices how Edd's hat is barely hanging on, so he removes it from his head, and immediately rakes his fingers through Edd's raven tresses. Edd sighs out a moan, tilting his head back. His hands go flat against Kevin's crotch, no longer undoing his pants. Kevin slowly knelt down until he was able to kiss Edd's scar, much like he did the first time he ever saw Edd without his hat. He sits back up to find Edd staring up at him, pleased smile on his face.

Edd then stands up, and slowly starts working Kevin's jeans and underwear down, keeping his mouth on him as much as possible. Edd had barely freed Kevin's cock by the time it became fully erect, a bead of precum already forming at the tip, all from Edd's slow, gentle motions.

After a while, Kevin found himself unable to hold back. He pushes Edd back onto the bed, falling after him with his pants only partially down. The kiss and roll around awkwardly, trying to discard the rest of the clothes. By the time they were undressed completely, Kevin was lying flat on his back and Edd had just swung a leg over him so he was straddling his lap.

Edd reaches down and starts stroking both cocks together, using both hands. Kevin slowly closes his eyes, bucking his hips lightly, breathing out a sigh at the sensation. After a few more strokes, Kevin contorts his body, so he can reach for the nightstand without stopping Edd. It's been a while since him and Edd had fooled around in Edd's bedroom, but Kevin recalled Edd keeping a bottle of lube in there the last time he was here. It was the first and only time Edd fingered Kevin, and he wasn't going to forget the details of that event any time soon.

He barely manages to get the drawer open when Edd stops his movements, saying, "What are you doing?"

"I was… I was getting the lube…" Kevin manages to find the small bottle, picking it up and waving it at Edd.

Edd shook his head. "I am not sure about the shelf life of that… hold on…"

Kevin watches as Edd quickly gets off the bed and goes to his messenger bag lying in the corner. As Edd bends down, rummaging inside the bag, Kevin asks, "Think you could turn a bit to the right?"

Edd stands up partially, glaring at him over his shoulders, but then his shakes his hips as he bends back over. Kevin quickly stands and rushes across the room, but by the time he could reach for Edd's hips, he had stood back up and spun around towards Kevin.

Kevin instead just embraces him, hands sliding down towards his ass as Edd holds up a bottle of lube and a strip of condoms. Kevin kisses him lightly before saying, "You seemed awfully prepared. You just carry those around all the time now?" He hoped his voice didn't sound as jealous as he felt.

Edd clutches the items to his chest as Kevin continued to feel him up. "Yes, I am prepared. You know me… besides… I was hoping for a chance to make things up to you…"

Kevin freezes, not expecting that response. Before he could figure out if Edd had meant the sex to be part of the making up process, or just an after effect, Edd speaks again.

"I'm sorry for last Christmas. I… You know why I did it, but…" Edd sighs heavily, slumping into Kevin's arms. "It was so stupid. And it ended up horribly and I missed you so much but I was just too embarrassed to say anything at that point. I figured I put us in too much pain that I shouldn't talk to you, but when I realized it might have been okay to reach out again… too much time had passed."

Kevin tilts Edd's face up towards his, pecking his lips lightly. "That's okay. It's all in the past now."

"But I shouldn't have-"

"But nothing. You said 'sorry' and I said, 'it's okay,' so we're good."

Edd looks at him, smiling, but there was still regret peeking through.

"I'm serious, Edd. We're good now. We're here, we're naked, everything good."

Edd snorts out a laugh before hugging Kevin. As he starts kissing him again, Kevin lifts him up once more, carrying to the bed. This time when he lays him down, he crawls on top of him, trying to continue their kiss. He only breaks the kiss to apply lube to his fingers, immediately resuming the kiss with a swipe of his tongue as he maneuvers his hand to position.

As he works Edd with one finger, he buries his face in the crook of Edd's neck and lets the words inside him overflow. He tells him how much he's missed him, missed their talks, missed being able to turn to him for anything and being able to be there Edd. He punctuates each statement with a kiss on the neck. Edd moans out his own confession but is unable to finish when Kevin manages to apply the right amount of pressure to his prostrate. He watches as Edd squirms beneath him, crying out in pleasure, eyes screwed shut, and fingers clawing at Kevin's shoulders.

As he works Edd with two fingers, he continues his confession, saying how much Edd means to him, how he's always admired him, almost to the point of intimidation, never believing Edd would want anything to do with someone like Kevin.

As Edd breathes heavily, groaning aloud at the three fingers now inside him, Kevin states how happy he is to be able to talk to him again, to share pieces of their lives once more. He admits that he only wants Edd to be happy and wishes he could be closer to help ensure that, to help protect him, to be there for him at all times… but he's not sure Edd could hear him at this point.

Finally, Kevin relents and preps himself for entering Edd. As he rolls on the condom and applies more lube, he sees Edd watching him. He's panting, completely flushed, and starting at Kevin almost desperately.

Kevin lines himself up, and starts pushing in, when Edd grasps at Kevin's arms, shouting, "Slow, slow, slow!"

Kevin stops moving, "You okay?"

Edd nods but he's grimacing. "Yes, just… just go a little slower… I've… I've never done this before."

Kevin tries to move slow but finds himself completely stopped still. "You've never-"

"Kevin." Edd sounded quite annoyed. "Do we need to have a discussion on my first kiss again? That was literally all of my experience until you came along, and there's been no one else…"

It hadn't dawned on him that Edd was still a virgin, something Kevin didn't really think about since his break-up with Nazz all those years ago. Kevin was torn between fear, pride, lust, and other things that were muddled by all the other emotions, when Edd wiggled his hips a little.

"I think you can move a bit more…"

So, Kevin does. He takes his time entering Edd, until he's all the way inside. He gives Edd a moment to adjust before he slowly pulls out. He repeats this several times until Edd says, "More."

Kevin gives him more. He moves more rapidly. He thrusts harder. He covers Edd's face with more kisses. He forces his arms under Edd and pulls him closer. With that last maneuver, he had tilted their hips just right, and was directly hitting Edd's prostrate. Edd grips at the sheets on the bed, biting his bottom lip against the moan that was trying to escape.

Kevin tries to maintain the position while slowly removing one hand. He works it between them and starts to stroke Edd. Edd starts to whimper a bit, before he moans out a whine from the back of his throat. Kevin feels closer to the edge from the sounds alone. Soon, he feels a sudden warmth on his hands as Edd makes that face, that face of pure bliss, the one he hasn't seen in nearly a year.

Kevin then lays Edd back down flat as he grabs his hips, thrusting roughly. He watches as Edd grunts along with him, struggling to catch his breath with Kevin still inside him. He bends him a bit more as he leans forward, kissing him. With a few more thrusts, Kevin finally climaxes.

He feels Edds lips still pressed gently against his as Edd murmurs something over and over again. Through the haze of the orgasm, Kevin wasn't sure what was said, but he believes it was a chant of 'I missed you.'

Once they get cleaned up, they put on their underwear and nothing else, cuddling in bed. Kevin hears Edd's breathing start to relax more, so he says, "There's too many daylight hours left for you to be going to bed now."

Edd giggles against his chest. "I suppose you're right. How does a late lunch sound?"

Kevin leans down and kisses Edd on the forehead. "That's sounds great."

The rest of the day, they lounged about, made half-attempts at packing up Edd's belongings, and chatted like they used to, but with no tension this time. It was like their relationship in the past, but this time it felt more solid. That, and the lack of clothes.

Once most of Edd's room was packed, and there was no more sunlight trying to peek in through the blinds, Kevin checks his phone again to see if his mom had contacted him. She did, just inquiring if he was okay, to which he confirmed.

He looked up from his phone to see Edd staring at him, worriedly.

"Do you… do you need to go?"

Kevin drops his phone back onto his jeans. "Nah. I'm free til morning so-"

"Stay."

"W-what?"

Edd steps closer, gently grabbing his hand. "Could you… do you mind staying with me, for the night?"

"Like you really have to ask, dork."


	3. An End to Things

Kevin wakes with a start when his phone starts ringing. He slowly removes his arm from around Edd, who's now grumbling sleepily. He manages to make it out of bed and scramble to his phone just before the call gets sent to voicemail.

"H'llo?" Kevin says, sleep still clear in his voice. His heart drops when he hears his mother's panicked voice. Kevin says he's just across the street and will be right over.

He hangs up and rushes to get dressed. Edd sits up in bed and asks if everything was okay. Kevin shakes his head solemnly.

He kisses Edd briefly before saying, "I'm running late. I'll text you about it soon. But I gotta go."

Edd just nods and Kevin rushes out his room. He makes it to the car just in time to see his parents lock up the house.

As they drive to the hospital, Kevin send Edd a long series of texts. He explains how during this past semester, his grandmother had been doing worse, spending more and more time in the hospital. Then one day, she fell. The impact she sustained was the final blow, and she wasn't going to make it through the weekend. That's the reason why he came home, to say goodbye to her.

He then apologizes for rushing out, saying that though he'd love to spend more time with Edd, this was his last chance to see her, alive.

Edd replied back, saying he completely understands, and to call and text him whenever, if he needs to.

When the Barrs made it to the hospital and found out she had passed a little over an hour before they arrived, Kevin found himself needing Edd there, but unable to do anything about it.

He sat in the corner of her now empty hospital room and cried.

After regaining his composure enough to be there for his mother, Kevin found himself taking out his phone to contact Edd, but unsure of what to say. He is mostly worried that he would just end up crying over the phone, no words spoken. His mother asked him about his weird behavior with his phone, and he admitted that he wanted to talk to Edd, but-

"If you want him to come over, to have someone to talk to or cry to or distract you with videogames… go ahead… Whatever you need to get through this."

Kevin nodded and thanked his mother, wondering how to pose this to Edd.

Soon, his parents had to discuss the next steps with the hospital. Kevin overheard them refer to his grandmother as 'the body' and in a fit of rage, he left the hospital. He was pacing around the sorry excuse for a garden outside, a tiny lawn with an unkept path and two whole park benches, when his phone pinged twice.

_Edd:_ How's the visit? You hanging in there?

_Edd:_ P.S. You left your hat here…

Kevin tentatively reaches up towards his head, patting it, realizing that in his haste and in his sorrow, he hadn't realized he forgot his hat. Instead of texting Edd back, he calls him.

"Kevin?!"

"Keep it."

"What?"

"You can keep the hat."

"But… I know this hat… it's your favorite one!"

"All the more reason to keep it. You're leaving Peach Creek and all… I want you to have it."

There was silence on the line, prompting Kevin to think about the issue he was really struggling with. He chokes back a sob before saying, "Do you… do you think…" Kevin stops talking when his voice cracks.

"Kevin… are you… what's going on?"

"Do you think you can come over tonight? Keep me company?"

Edd hesitates, making a few small sounds with his voice.

"If you're wondering about Ma, she already knows. She's the one who suggested it in fact, saying it might be good for me."

"Did something happen? I mean, I know… why you're there… but… I'm sorry… that was a stupid question…"

There was a pause before Kevin made a pained chuckle over the phone. "It's fine, dork… but can you?"

"Text me as soon as you want me there. In fact, five minutes sooner if possible."

Kevin doesn't respond but sends a text to Edd instead.

_Kev:_ I want you here.

When he brings the phone back up to his ear, he hears Edd say, "Hold on… I need to check something…"

After a moment, Kevin hears Edd chuckling. He hopes it was because of the message he sent.

Edd chuckles and says, "You're cute, you know that?"

"So, I've been told." His laugh sounds more real now. "I gotta go, but I will text you for real later."

Kevin was sitting in the living room discussing funeral arrangements with his mother when there was a knock on the door. His mother stands to answer it. Kevin doesn't bother to check who it was, not having texting Edd yet, but becomes curious when his mother bursts into tears, thanking the person at the door.

Kevin stands in time to see her pull the person inside via a tight embrace. Edd staring wide-eyed at Kevin as he was being squeezed. His mother eventually pulls back, and Kevin can see the small vase of flowers in her other hand now.

Edd then hands her a card and she hugs him again. Kevin tries not to laugh at the way Edd is grimacing at the death grip he found himself in.

_Jesus. I hope he doesn't have a third gift. He won't survive that one._

"I hope I didn't come by too soon…" Edd said quietly, eyes darting between both Barrs.

"No, no, dear. Not at all!" She then ushers Edd into the main room of the house as she finally shuts the door. "In fact, Kevin was just about to go upstairs so…"

They bid her goodnight as they headed up towards Kevin's room. Kevin plops down on his bed with a heavy sigh while Edd tosses his bookbag next to him on the bed. Kevin peeks up at him as Edd starts pulling out items from his bag.

He watches as Edd pulls out Kleenex, Gatorade, donut holes, and another card, this one with 'Kevin' scrawled on the front. Then Edd crawls onto the bed, takes his bag, and turns it upside down over Kevin's lap. A flood of Reese's and Reese's products come pouring out on top of him, some of which were still in the cardboard display box. Kevin sits up on his elbow, looking at the all the sweets now covering his stomach, lap, and bed.

"So, I went for the usual Kleenex and donut hole routine, but then I saw the Reese's at the register… And every time I see Reese's, I think of that one Halloween you got so mad that you didn't get a single Reese's that you went around six different cul-de-sacs, trading with everyone you can find until you had nothing but peanut butter cups and the likes in your trick-or-treat bag."

Kevin laughs, sitting upright completely, already peeling one package open. "Dude. I was _sooooo_ pissed, that year. That's like the only candy I really like, and I got NONE."

Edd giggles, scooting closer to him and taking a cup from the package Kevin had already opened. "You almost murdered Eddy, too."

"He had like half a bag of Reese's! How was that fair!? And he wouldn't trade me _one_!"

Edd shrugs. "Well, you got them all in the end."

"Uh, no, he wouldn't trade."

"No… You did. I traded with him and then gave them to you."

"Wait… is that… is that why you had… DUDE!"

Kevin stared dumbfounded at Edd, another peanut butter cup halfway to his lips.

Edd finished chewing before he shrugged, eyes darting towards Kevin before looking sheepishly away. "I might have already started forming a crush on you back then, so when I saw what was happening, I did what I could to get into your good graces."

Edd picks up a package of Reese's Pieces, turning it over and over in his hand. "I'd say it paid off too because you got the candy you wanted, none of us Eds got cavities that fall, and you had hugged me hard, calling me 'the coolest dork' that you knew."

Kevin shoved the candy into his mouth so his hands could be free to hug Edd. Around a mouthful of chocolate and peanut butter, he mumbled, "Still the coolest dork I know."

Edd hugged him back, and they stayed that way for a moment. But soon, Kevin had to pull back. He could feel the tears welling up inside him, and he wasn't about to ruin such a sweet and nostalgic moment by crying on Edd.

But it doesn't work. Soon, Kevin's crying, albeit softly.

Edd wraps an arm around him, resting his head on his shoulder and he whispers comforts. They all had to do with his grandmother, but that was only partially the reason why he was crying. The sudden death of his relative had made him vulnerable. Vulnerable to the emotions that Edd was provoking in him. Vulnerable to the want, the need, that he felt for Edd, even after all these years.

With a heavy sigh, Kevin told Edd what had happened that morning, how he missed his chance to say goodbye.

Soon, Kevin found himself trying to cheer Edd up, who was getting misty-eyed at Kevin's terrible plight. They talked about his grandmother for a while longer until Kevin announced that he wanted to get at those donut holes while watching something completely unrelated to his grandmother.

They settled on 'Deadpool,' Edd complaining that it was completely mind-numbing, and Kevin arguing back that that was the whole point. It was drama and violence and humor and everything he needed.

In the past, when they watched movies together, it was always Kevin that held Edd close. But in Kevin's fragile state, it was Edd holding him, until Kevin slipped down to rest his head on Edd's lap. He felt his eyes start to close on him as Edd slowly played with his hair.

When Kevin realized he had fallen asleep, he opens his eyes to find that the movie was either over or Edd had cut it off. He lifts his head to find Edd standing at the edge of the bed, quietly removing the Kleenex boxes. He watches as Edd carries them to the desk, where he sees a pile of sweets on top, and two half empty donut hole bags. Edd turns back to Kevin and freezes.

"Did I wake you?"

Kevin shakes his head and shifts in the bed. He pats the empty space beside him and Edd rushes over. As Kevin peels off his shirt, he watches as Edd removes his hat, dusting it off before laying it on the nightstand. They've fallen asleep together plenty of times before, but Edd never goes hatless unless it was removed during sex. This small act caused a tug in Kevin's chest, knowing how intimate it felt to Edd to have his head exposed like that.

Kevin lays back in bed and Edd immediately curls up against him.

"Sorry you had to coddle me tonight."

"I'd coddle you anytime you need. I just want to see you happy."

Kevin gives a breathy but quiet laugh.

"I'm serious! If I could magically take the pain away and place it on myself instead, it would have been done already. I care about you deeply… I hate seeing you like this."

"God, I missed you," Kevin mumbled before kissing the top of Edd's head. "I really don't deserve you."

"That's debatable, but I understand the sentiment."

Kevin laughs, a genuine one, something he hadn't done since yesterday.

"How's about you explain some super detailed science concept until I fall sleep?"

Edd scoffs but proceeds to describe the difference between transcription and translation for DNA and RNA. Kevin had a few brief thought about the feel of Edd's hand on his chest, of the smoothness of his voice now that he's older, and of the way he speaks, thinking that if Edd had taught him science, he would have liked the classes a bit more.

Kevin jerks awake a few hours later, nightmare intense enough to pry him from sleep. He sits up quickly then feels something moving besides him. He turns his body to look and sees Edd slowly sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Kevin, you okay?"

He felt his heart ache in a whole new way upon hearing Edd's sleepy voice and seeing him sit up to hug him without waiting for a response.

Kevin holds him tightly and flops back down onto the bed. Edd complains about being manhandled but they both end up laughing.

The next morning, Edd tries to sneak quietly away, as to not wake up Kevin's mothers. At Kevin's door, Edd freezes and says, "Your hat is still at my place."

"Keep it. I'm serious."

"You sure?"

"Of course."

Edd smiles. "I'll be sure to take good care of it."

"Thank you," Kevin says, kissing Edd tenderly.


	4. Limbo

It's been nearly three years since Kevin last saw Edd.

During Kevin's last two years of college, they lost touch. They tried not to, promising to text and call over the months apart, and to save up to visit each other. But their schedules became more demanding, Kevin's with athletics and Edd with trying to graduate early. Eventually, they ended up being like those former friends who only text on birthdays and major holidays.

It also didn't help that Kevin was having a hard time coping with the loss of his grandmother along with dealing with the aftermath of a problematic hook-up with Nathan a year later.

By the time Kevin hit his first full year out of college, he had gone _month_s without talking to the dork he obsessed over all throughout high school. He'd think about him often, wondered how the dork was currently doing, and sometimes would pull out his phone to contact him.

But he never did.

It felt like too much had come between them at this point, and though Kevin still had strong feelings for Edd, he wasn't sure if the same could be said for Edd now after months of silence.

Currently, Kevin's stuck trying to figure out what to do with his degree now that he has it. During fall semester of his senior year, Kevin sustained an injury that benched him for good, but he was okay with that. He didn't really want to play for life, but he wasn't sure what he actually wanted to do. He considered teaching history or sociology, one of his majors, but there's no real way to do that without at least a Master's degree.

So now Kevin's working part time as a tutor in the learning center back at Peach Creek. But since the pay barely covered his basic bills, he also finds himself living back with his parents to save a bit on rent. And at this point in his life, living at home was just awful. It didn't take him long to realize that he needed to find another job. But while doing so, he decided to also apply to different graduate programs, to see what doors would open for him in his hopes of becoming a teacher.

Towards the beginning of January, Kevin has more downtime at work, since the semester just started and the only students showing up to be tutored are the ones with proactive parents. So he does things like play games on his phone, snapchat with Nazz, or check his e-mail. Things he was not allowed to do while on the clock. Which is why he had a hard time explaining why he suddenly started cheering in the middle of work.

Kevin had received _two_ acceptance letters from graduate programs. His second and fourth choices. This came as a huge surprise after seeing the rejection letter from his top choice a few days ago. In both letters, Kevin was invited to meet the faculty, staff, and currents students of the programs, and to discuss possible assistantships that will help pay for college.

_Fuck yeah, free money? I'll go for that!_

Kevin went to tour the first school in the middle of February, driving the five hours to get there. It seemed the more promising out of the two schools, but it just didn't feel right to him. The campus was beautiful, but the reception was not. He felt like he'd just be going through the motions and end up hating school within a semester. But they said he was a shoo-in for some sort of financial package, how much he'd get would be up for debate though, so Kevin didn't cross it off his list just yet.

When the first of March rolled around, it was time for him to fly to his next school tour. It was actually the same one Edd had went to for his undergrad. Kevin found the irony in that he never could afford to visit Edd when they were still talking, but now here he is, finally making the journey, just several years too late.

From the time he woke up that morning, until he finally met his potential new advisor should he attend this program, Kevin was tempted to message Edd. Ask him about the school. Ask him about this city. Ask him how he's doing and where he's living and if they can start talking again.

He doesn't.

This school was out of state for Kevin, so there was no way he could attend without some sort of assistantship, but they had less of a guarantee for him regarding financial packages. This was a hit to the heart, because Kevin fell in love with the idea of joining this program on this particular campus. He loved the classes offered, the research he'll get to do, the faculty, and everything else about it.

When day one of his visit was over, he immediately called Nazz to gush about the program and stress about the possibility that he wouldn't be able to attend due to finances.

He wanders around campus, taking in all the old buildings and winding walkways, recounting the day's events with Nazz. As he does so, he spots something that winds him, stopping mid-sentence in his discussion about what his potential new advisor does for research.

It takes Nazz quite a few times to get Kevin to start speaking again.

"Sorry… I…" Kevin shakes his head, knowing it can't be true. "Girl, you will not believe what I just saw. Someone here is walking around, wearing the _same exact_ hat as Edd."

"I doubt it's the same exact one, unless they met him and stole it," Nazz said dryly, snark clearly there still.

Kevin sucks his teeth. "I know it's not the _same exact_ one, _literally_! But it looks… you know what I mean! It looks the same."

"Like down to the last thread or-"

"Cut it out, will ya!? I'm just saying this dude reminded me of my Edd because of the hat, so I…"

Kevin froze, oblivious to what Nazz had to say, when the person he was talking about turned back around and faced him, cocking his head and looking curiously at Kevin.

"Can I call you back?" Kevin asked hurriedly, voice hushed. He hangs up immediately before waiting for a response.

As he lowers his phone, he realizes his error and looks at his phone in a panic, knowing he's going to get an earful later. But he couldn't care about that now, because when he looked up, the person was walking quickly towards him.

"Kevin?"


	5. Reunion

Kevin can't help the flush that overcomes him as he sees Edd's face light up. He remains rooted on the spot as Edd jogs up towards him, messenger back loudly hitting his hip with each stop. Edd slows as he approaches and starts looking a bit apprehensive, which causes Kevin to realize that he _needs to move or say hi or something holy fuck just move you idiot._

Kevin lunges forward and hugs Edd tightly. And as soon as he feels Edd hugging him back, he lowers his arm until he can get a better grip and lift Edd up off the ground, rocking him back and forth. Edd wraps his arms around Kevin's neck tighter, giggling against him, causing a pleasant shiver down Kevin's back.

Kevin slowly sets Edd back down on the ground, letting go, but Edd reaches forward and grabs both his hands in his.

"I can't believe it's really you!" Edd says cheerily, and Kevin melts at the sight of that gap-tooth grin he's missed after all these years. "What are you doing here!?"

"I'm checking out a graduate program."

Edd's jaw drops and he stares blankly at Kevin for an unnerving amount of time.

"Wait, so you're going to be attending-"

"No, no, no… I mean… maybe… depends on finances and another school, but yeah… it's a _possibility_."

Edd lets Kevin's hands go to clutch at his messenger bag strap. "How serendipitous!"

Kevin laughs in response, not knowing what else to say.

Edd then says, "Where were you on your way to right now?"

Kevin pulls out the campus map from his back pocket to show Edd where he was heading. "I was actually on my way to check out the graduate dorms, to see what they were like aside from tiny pictures online."

"I was wondering why you were on this side of campus. There's literally nothing here but the graduate dorms and the dental school… speaking of serendipitous… if I didn't stay behind after class, I would already been in my dorm and would have missed you!"

"Wait, so you live there?"

Edd nods and grins at him. "Certainly! I could show you the way, if you like."

"Choice!"

Kevin had only expected to rant with Nazz as he went to see if the dorms looked stable from the outside. He never imaged that Edd would still be here, that he would be running into him, and that he'd now be going inside one of the dorms, specifically Edd's.

As he kicked off his shoes he looked around and commented on the spaciousness of the place.

Edd scoffs. "For this price, I sure hope so! I'm actually surprised you're considering this. I didn't really have a choice in the matter, but next year I do, and I'm definitely looking for a cheaper place off campus."

Edd gives him a quick tour of the place, showing him the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, and when the reach the living room, they sit down on the couch for a chat.

They start talking about what Edd's currently doing in his graduate program and Kevin's two choices for graduate programs. When Kevin clearly states his preference for one over the other, Edd reaches over and lays a hand gently on Kevin's knee.

"Well it certainly looks like you know what you want, and I hope you get it, because it would be _fantastic_ to see you around campus."

Kevin can't help but grin at the thought.

Before either could speak another word, they hear a beep coming from the kitchen.

"Oh! Just in time!" Edd jumped up from the couch and hurried into the kitchen. Kevin follows him slowly and enters the kitchen to see Edd stirring something inside a crock pot. He realizes that Edd had only invited him to look at the dorm, not to stay and chat. Edd had a routine still, and Kevin was interrupting it.

"I, uh… I should probably get out of your hair."

Edd snaps his head towards Kevin. Kevin regrets saying anything when he saw the sadness in Edd's face. "Oh… sorry…"

"No, don't apologize. I just… I should probably go and check into my hotel eventually and find some dinner myself."

Edd drops the giant spoon into the crock pot and closes the distance between him and Kevin. "Actually… I always cook extra, so there'd be leftovers for the next few days… so there's plenty here if you want any… though, I do know that it is still a bit early for dinner, so if you'd rather-"

"Nah, that's fine." Kevin can feel the grin spreading across his face. "I'll stay for dinner. Rather it be early but with good company."

Edd beams back before rushing around the kitchen, pulling out two plates, two forks, and two of everything else. Kevin sits the bar for him, intentionally pushing the chairs closer once he realized they were at opposite ends of the bar.

_If I'm staying for dinner, I might as well see if I can cozy up to him in the process._

"Oh shoot."

Kevin peeks back into the kitchen. "What is it?"

Edd then looks up from the fridge. "Seems I forgot to restock the water bottles _and_ refill the water pitcher. Could you go into my room and grab a couple bottles? I keep the cases of water in the corner by the closet. You can't miss it."

Kevin does so, a bit too eager to check out Edd's room again. He got a quick glance of it during the tour, but he wanted to look around a bit more, see all the little knickknacks that Edd's life now comprises.

He goes into the room and spots Edd's diploma on the wall, but something else catches his eye. He slowly walks towards that side of the room, away from the closet, and looks down at the bookshelf beneath the diploma.

Edd's decorated the top of it with different mementos. A picture of the cul-de-sac kids at one of Nazz's parties. A trophy and medal. What looked to be a name tag for some sort of science convention. A small print out of one of the last photos Edd took with Kevin. And all sorts of other little things. But the thing that had caught Kevin's eye was his red baseball cap that he left with Edd all those years ago, sitting right in the middle.

It looked to be in pristine condition, with no dust collected on it. Kevin knew this was most likely due to Edd's tidiness, but he couldn't help but wonder why it would even be out on display like this. Kevin briefly considers if Edd pulled it out because Kevin was coming over, then realized that his visit was too last minute for that.

_He keeps the hat out, on display… my hat…_

"Did you find them?" Edd shouts to him.

Kevin rushes to complete the task he was sent in there for. He quickly darts out of the room with his arms full of water bottles. He hands them one by one to Edd as he restocks the fridge with them. Kevin goes to place the last two bottles by their plates, and he sits down, pulling out his phone.

"You ready to dig in?" Edd asks, unplugging the crock pot.

"Uh, yeah, just gotta do something real quick."

Kevin pulls up his hotel reservation and cancels it.

_God, I hope I'm not being too optimistic… But if he still has that hat and has it displayed like that…_

They talk more about what they've been up to these past few years as they dinned. After, Kevin did the dishes as thanks while Edd went about putting up the leftovers. As Kevin was finishing up the last plate, he feels Edd snaking his arms around his middle, slowly pressing himself against Kevin's back.

Edd hugs him like this briefly before saying, "Thanks for cleaning up."

Kevin felt his entire body flush at that, but pushes aside his urges, just wanting to catch up with Edd for tonight.

As Kevin dried his hands off, he sees Edd pulling out two wine glasses from the cabinet. Edd then turns to him, holding up a bottle of wine.

"You have time for a drink?"

Kevin soon finds himself sitting on Edd's couch again, sipping wine and having a leisurely talk. During a pause in the conversation, Kevin watches Edd toy with the fringed edge of a decorative pillow, something clearly on his mind.

"What you thinking about?"

"I… well… what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"My plans?" Kevin finishes off his glass as Edd nods. "Well, I have to meet with my advisor again, but that's not until 2pm. Then I'm joining the current cohort for happy hour that evening, but that's it. Why do you ask?"

Edd shrugs and casually says, "I was just wondering if you'd like to have brunch in the morning."

"That'll be great! Sure!"

"Awesome… and if you'd like to stay until then… you know, just sleep over or what have you… you're more than welcome to." Edd stares at the pillow for a moment longer before glancing up at Kevin through his eyelashes.

Kevin laughs loudly and hands his wine glass over to Edd. "I hope this wasn't presumptuous of me, but I already cancelled my hotel plans."

Edd giggles as he pours them both another glass. "Well, that sorts that out! Though I do have an appointment first thing in the morning to check out an apartment. You're free to stay in and sleep while I go and-"

"Nah, I'll join you, if you don't mind."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean, there's a 50/50 chance I'll be moving here so I gotta see my options."

Edd grins at him from over his glass before taking a sip.

They continue to talk, bringing up their middle and high school days. Eventually, Edd brings up the one time he got in trouble for being late, and how it was Kevin's fault.

Kevin lowers his voice as if they weren't the only two in the room. "That was you! You were the one that was jacking me off in the dugout."

"Says the guy who kept bringing up the Cold War in order to make out after school."

Kevin shakes his head, "Man, we were some hormonal teenagers."

"Oh, gracious. Yes. I'm so glad we got that out of our system."

Kevin gives him the must lustful stare he can manage as he says, "Speak for yourself."

Edd looks at him in shock, before Kevin reaches over and pulls him closer. But Kevin doesn't go any further than keeping his arm around Edd who is now pressed up against his side. Kevin felt a bit disappointed when Edd started to pull away, but that quickly changed to feeling like he set himself up.

Edd hand turned sideways on the couch, both legs now draped over Kevin's lap, as he leans against Kevin's shoulder. Kevin just wanted to place his arm around him, but now he's finding himself in a slightly more intimate position, one that's increasing his urge to let his hands wander.

Meanwhile, Edd continues their discussion on how they got each other in trouble back during the cul-de-sac days, but soon, the bottle of wine was empty.

Edd ungracefully crawls across Kevin's lap, trying to get up off the couch. He drags his thigh and ass right across a part of Kevin that started to react to the friction. Edd eventually makes it up and back into the kitchen. Kevin hears him rooting around for a bit before he sees him walk into his bedroom instead.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for another bottle. I thought I had another one."

"I didn't know you drank."

"I usually don't, but this is a special occasion… Meeting an old friend after all these years!"

Edd comes jogging out of the room, bottle held triumphantly over his head. "Ah ha!" he shouts as he poses in front of Kevin, who laughs heartily at him. He sits down besides Kevin and starts to uncork it, but then freezes as he looks at the label.

"Oh shoot… this is the better one… I should have opened it first!"

Edd pours him a half glass and tells him to try it. Kevin takes the glass, knowing it could possibly be a bad idea, and takes a tentative sip. Then he says, "You know… I never wanted to be friends…"

Edd was about to pour his own glass, but quickly sits down the bottle and glass on the table. He glances up at Kevin, looking unwell, scared almost. Kevin swallows the lump in his throat before downing the rest of the glass, cringing at the tannins.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Like I did enjoy being friends and all, I really did. You're great, of course. But I… being friends wasn't enough for me. I wanted you… like as a boyfriend, a lover, whatever."

Edd looks away, tugging at his hat slightly.

Kevin rubs a hand down his face, regret sinking in. "ssswhat I'm saying is-"

Edd suddenly turns and grabs Kevin, kissing him briefly. As he pulls away, Kevin stops him by grabbing his arm with his free hand. The next thing he knows, Edd was swinging a leg over and crawling onto his lap. Kevin flails to put his glass down, leaning away to reach the side table. He looks back and chuckles slightly at how pissed Edd was looking because he pulled away.

"C'mere,' Kevin murmurs as he wraps his arms around Edd's lower back, pulling just enough to cause Edd to lean forward into him.

Edd catches himself by grabbing onto Kevin's shoulders. Kevin slides a hand up to the back of Edd's neck and leans him towards him just enough to kiss him. Kevin feels the long dormant emotions that had started to stir, burst forth inside of him, as Edd moans into the kiss.

Edd then nipped at Kevin's bottom lip, pulling it slightly. After another moment, he swiped his tongue against Kevin's mouth and Kevin responded by deepening the kiss immediately.

When Kevin was talking with Edd on his couch, he was just grateful for the chance to catch up with him, but a part of him was still unsure how Edd felt, not sure if he was just being overly friendly because of their history, or if he missed Kevin the way Kevin had missed him. But with the way Edd was responding right now, Kevin felt his doubt start to slip away.

Kevin was starting to settle into the kiss more when he feels Edd pull away suddenly. The stare at each other for only a few seconds before the words spilled from both pairs of lips at the same time.

"I've missed you."


	6. Pillow Replacement

Kevin pulls Edd's face back down towards him and starts kissing him again. Edd kisses back hungrily, wrapping his arms around Kevin's neck.

He breaks the kiss only briefly to mumble, "Bedroom."

Kevin continues to kiss him for a bit longer before sliding his hands further down Edd, gently caressing him, before wrapping tightly around him. He lifts Edd as he slowly stands. Kevin grins into the kiss as he feels Edd scramble to wrap his legs around Kevin's middle. Kevin struggles to carry Edd like that to the bedroom, still a bit tipsy and not familiar with Edd's apartment.

_But this is a lot like the last time… well, only time that we had sex._

Kevin manages to get them into the bedroom, only bumping into something twice. Soon Edd asks him to set him down, and Kevin complies, elbow still a bit sore from the doorframe.

As soon as Edd's feet were back on the ground, he falls back onto the bed, pulling Kevin with him. Kevin falls half on top of him, laughing a bit. But that soon turns into breathy sighs as Edd starts kissing his neck and running his hands up under Kevin's shirt.

Kevin sits up to tug his own shirt off. When his shirt is flung across the room, he looks down to see Edd unbuttoning his own shirt, slowly from the bottom.

It is then that Kevin notices that Edd is a bit more muscular than he once was, a bit more definition in his hips and stomach. Kevin slides a hand across Edd's exposed stomach as he continued to unbutton his shirt.

"Someone's been working out."

Edd snorts a laugh. "Trying to at least. I don't know how you do it. Been at it for years now and there's still not even half an ab peeking through."

Kevin quickly maneuvers himself lower and starts licking at Edd's stomach. Edd scrambles to get the last button undone before asking, "What are you doing?"

Kevin doesn't answer, but keeps licking at Edd's stomach, tracing around the faded beginnings of abs. He wasn't cut, but he was fit, and Kevin appreciated the sight. He runs his tongue up from Edd's navel to his chest before saying, "I can see your abs just fine."

Edd opens his mouth to speak as Kevin cuts him off by roughly sucking on one of his nipples. Edd manages to push him away up off the bed long enough to sit up and finish removing his shirt. As he shimmies out of it, Edd slows him motions and looks up at Kevin, curiously.

Kevin understood the look. He, too, was not certain where all this was going. One minute they were sitting on the couch talking about middle school, and as soon as Kevin spilled his guts, they're half-naked in Edd's bedroom.

Kevin places a knee on the bed and leans down to cup Edd's face. "What do you want me to do?"

Edd looks at him for a moment.

"Stay."

Kevin tilts his head in confusion.

"Do whatever you want to me, as long as you stay."

_I don't know if he means stay the night, which I've already agreed to, or stay in some grander meaning, like… in his life… but the answer is still 'yes.'_

Kevin stands and gently pulls Edd up off the bed. As soon as he's standing, he leans forward and kisses him, his hands working at the top of his pants. Edd follows suit and they clumsily manage to get each other's pants off. With a bit more fumbling and making out, Kevin soon finds Edd completely naked in front of him, flushed down to his chest, and breathing hard. He kisses him softly before asking again, "What do you want?"

Edd gently strokes Kevin's cock a few times, causing him to bite his bottom lip in response. He then slowly moves his hands around Kevin's back, stepping closer, until he's pressed up against him. "I want to feel you."

Kevin snorts out a laugh. "You going to keep being cryptic like this?"

Edd grins and nods before rolling his eyes. "I seriously just want to feel you, and have you stay. I don't want you to leave again… I don't want to wait another few years to see you."

Kevin feels his heart swell as he starts kissing Edd again. He runs his hand down his back slowly, until he's gripping Edd's ass. Edd bucks into him, as the sentiments of earlier start becoming masked by the carnal desires once again.

Kevin breaks the kiss and asks Edd to get on the bed and lay on his stomach. Edd complies without question. He's barely settled onto the bed before Kevin starts kissing his thighs, moving up until he's kisses the small of Edd's back. He slowly works his mouth back down, hands sliding across Edd's ass. He gently spreads Edd's cheeks and takes a few tentative licks. Edd moans into his pillow and Kevin grins, recalling the summer they first tried this and Edd could hardly contain his voice.

As Kevin rims him, Edd bucks into the mattress, which only causes Kevin to grab his hips and work harder. When he looks up to see Edd gripping the pillow around his face, stifling his groans, Kevin knew he was close. He slides a hand down under Edd and starts rubbing it against Edd's cock. Edd slowly raises his hips until he has to shift onto his knees. Kevin continues to stroke Edd, but instead of tonguing his hole, he's now slowly inserting a finger. Once he gets the last knuckle in, he turns his hand and curls his finger.

"Oh… _Damn! _Kevin!" Edd groans out against the pillow.

Kevin strokes him a bit longer and prods at his prostrate a few more times before he realizes that Edd had used profanity. But once he does, he lets go, wanting to _see_ if and when those curses fall from Edd's lips again.

"Turn over."

Edd nods and slowly rolls on his hips. Kevin gets up and starts to open the nightstand. "Um, do you have-"

Edd looks at him and nods again, and Kevin feels another surge of lust at how spent Edd looks already.

Kevin gets the lube and preps his fingers before inserting two this time. Edd squirms a little at the intrusion, but soon starts to breath heavy with pleasure as Kevin starts to jack him off again. Edd bends forward as best as he can to give Kevin a kiss but ends up breaking it quite soon after when Kevin starts assaulting his prostrate again. Edd falls back onto the bed, biting his lips against the sounds of pleasures trying to escape.

Kevin then preps Edd with three fingers, slowly moving them in and out, while trying to make a scissoring motion. His other hands slowly caresses Edd's body, teasing his nipples at times, to help ease any discomfort.

When Edd gets used to the stretch, he starts to rock back onto Kevin's hand a little. Kevin notices Edd's balls tight against him, knowing that he's already close, so instead of moving on, he continues to finger Edd. When he uses his other hand start stroking Edd's cock, it doesn't take long for Edd to start bucking his hips more, torn between the different pleasures at both sides.

"Kevin. Kevin, I'm…"

"You gonna cum for me?" Kevin teases as Edd groans lowly, the motions of his hips stuttering a bit. It only takes a few more strokes until Kevin feels the pulse in his hands and sees the streaks of semen across Edd's stomach and chest. He slows his hands as Edd rides out his orgasm, then gently removes his hands from Edd. As he does so, he leans up and kisses Edd, who kisses back intermittently between gasps, attempting to catch his breath.

As Kevin starts to prep himself, rolling on a condom and lubing himself up, Edd continues to lay on the bed, panting. Kevin shifts to between Edd's legs, and Edd snaps his head up towards him.

"Can I?" Kevin was worried that fucking him so soon after he just made him cum from fingering might be too much. But with the way Edd had bit his bottom lip and nodded, looking at him desperately, he knew that Edd still wanted it, regardless of any sensitivity.

Kevin lines himself up and slowly presses in, Edd letting out a long moan at the added stretch. Kevin quietly breathes out a groan at the heat and the tightness, pushing forward until he was completely inside.

He then leaned down and started kissing Edd, who responded hungrily. He twitched into Edd a bit when Edd started dragging his nails through Kevin's hair, scratching at his scalp. Kevin remains pressed inside Edd as far as he can go as they make out, until Edd breaks the kiss.

He holds Kevin's face in place as he looks him in the eyes and says, "Just fuck me already."

Kevin didn't know when Edd had started cursing like this, if this was a regular thing for him, of if it had only started just now in the bedroom. But he did know one thing.

_Making Edd break like this is the hottest thing ever._

Kevin immediately leans back up a bit, grabbing Edd by the hips, and starts thrusting in roughly. Edd throws his head back against the pillow and grips at the sheets. Kevin maintains his grip on one of Edd's hips, but he allows his other hands to roam around, feeling up Edd. He slides his fingers across Edd's hint of abs, down his sides, and across his thighs. He gently grasps at Edd's still limp cock, causing his breath to hitch. After a while, Kevin sits up more, moving Edd's legs up onto his shoulders. He holds him by the thighs, as he continues to thrust, turning his head occasionally to kiss at one of Edd's legs. He slows his pace, gently pushing in and out of Edd, as he watches him lay there, breathing hard, skin flushes. Edd peeks his eyes opened and looks at Kevin, a grin creeping onto his face. Kevin thrusts back in suddenly, and Edd temporarily scrunches his face in pleasure, before grinning harder at Kevin.

_God, he's beautiful._

Kevin leans down to kiss Edd again, who only smiles harder and he reaches up to pull him in and wrap his arms around him. After a few brief kisses, Edd pulls back and says, "Do you mind stopping for a moment?"

Kevin immediately stops moving his hips, slowly pulling out as he says, "Is everything okay?"

Edd only nods as Kevin maneuvers over his leg, to lay down on the bed next to him. Kevin assumed Edd just needed a break and was about to pull him in to cuddle as they rested, when Edd sits up in bed.

Kevin watches as Edd straddles his lap, reaching down towards Kevin's dick, stroking it a few times. Edd then shifts forward on his knees, his eyes locked on Kevin the whole time. Kevin stares at him slack jawed as he watches Edd slowly lower himself onto Kevin's cock. Edd rocks his hips slowly a few times before Kevin reaches down to touch him.

He runs his hands up Edd's thighs and abs before he slides them back down towards Edd's growing erection. He strokes Edd until he's completely hard again, Edd making small sounds at the back of his throat all the while.

After riding him for several minutes, Edd leans down and gently cradles Kevin's face in his hands. Kevin sits up just enough to kiss him, his hands reaching back a bit further until he's grabbing Edd's ass. With this shift in position and Edd's sudden increase in pace as they kiss, Kevin feels himself teetering on the edge of an orgasm. He grips Edd's ass tighter, pushing it down against him until he starts to cum, grunting into the kiss. Edd continues to ride him until Kevin starts making those gasping whines he does when Edd exploits his sensitivity post-climax.

Edd then slowly pulls himself off of Kevin, who quickly pushes him down onto the bed, pinning him in place. Edd stares at him wild-eyed until Kevin hastily shifts down on the bed, until he can take Edd's cock into his mouth.

Edd's hands fly down into Kevin's hair as soon as Kevin's lips hit the base. Kevin makes short work of Edd by working his hand behind him and fingering him. Just after a few brief moments of sucking in Edd's entire length and paying special attention to his prostrate, Kevin feels his mouth fill with Edd's cum.

He looks up at Edd to find him biting his own hand to muffle his moaning. Once he's coming down from his high, he looks back down at Kevin and grins lazily.

Kevin sits up and just stares at Edd. His hair is two different kinds of messy, part of it sticking out everywhere, part of it plastered to his face and neck from the sweat. His torso is covered in flush, sweat, and cum. His chest is rising and falling drastically as he tries to steady his breathing. Edd's eyes are almost glazed over but his mouth still forms a small smile even though his lips are moving.

"Kevin?"

"Wha-Huh?"

"I asked if you wanted to get cleaned up."

"Oh, right, of course."

Kevin helps him off the bed and leads him to the bathroom. When Kevin starts the shower, Edd stands there quirking an eyebrow at him.

With a shrug, Kevin says, "I figure this would be more efficient that just spot cleaning everywhere."

"Fine. But there will be _no_ shower sex."

Kevin pouts. "Fine. But you should really reconsider that the next time I visit."

"Next time?"

Kevin pulls him close and kisses him tenderly. "You asked me to stay. Even if you hadn't asked, I still would… I'm not letting you go this time."

After the shower they lay in bed together, reminiscing for a while before making loose plans to visit each other more in the future. When Edd starts to yawn, Kevin settles back into the bed and pulls him to his side. Edd wriggles closer, pulling the sheets along with him as he wraps himself around Kevin's side.

Kevin is hit by the scent of dryer sheet and mumbles, "You just washed this?"

He feels Edd nod against his chest, before pausing and saying, "Well, not really. It's been a few days but I haven't slept here since."

"What do you mean?"

"I rarely sleep in my own bed these days. Just usually end up on the couch by accident."

"Why though? This is a pretty comfy bed." Kevin wiggles down into the mattress as if to prove a point.

Edd snickers. "There's just too much space. I usually have to pile up pillows on one side to fill comfortable, and most nights, I'm too tired for all that. What with all my evening classes and such."

"Hrm… do we need to get some pillows out then? So you can sleep?"

Edd squeezes an arm around Kevin's chest, nuzzling up to him. "No. This is just fine."

Kevin grins to himself, before kissing Edd on the top of his head.


	7. A Guest Bed

The next morning, Edd drags a still sleepy Kevin along to his apartment tour. Luckily for Kevin, Edd had promised him that he could take a nap once they get back, before they go out for brunch.

As they toured apartments, the management made an off-hand comment about how she thought it was just Edd, for that one-bedroom apartment had had called her about. Edd cut her off, gesturing towards Kevin as he said, "Well, my friend here is also considering his options, so we'd like to look at a few more floor plan models if that's okay."

After that, the management was more than happy to show multiple layouts, especially since now a more expensive two-bedroom unit was also of interest.

As soon as they went back to Edd's home, Edd kicks off his shoes, drops his keys into the bowl by the door, and spins back towards Kevin suddenly, startling him.

"I hope that didn't seem too forward of me."

"W-what are you talking about?"

Edd gripped the sides of his hat and looked away and Kevin realized he was embarrassed about something. "It's just… I made that comment about you looking at options too, and implied that we'd get a two-bedroom together and-"

Kevin stops his panicked, rushed speaking with a rough kiss. He holds Edd gently as he pulls back. "That's perfectly fine. I mean, saves us both money if I do end up going here." Kevin laughs quietly but stops when Edd gives him a serious look.

"If you go here…" Edd takes a deep breath, eyes darting away briefly. "If… then… then I'd like to try, to have us try… to… I mean… I want there to be an _us_…"

"Are you saying you want to-"

Edd cuts him off with a brief lecture about graduate school options and finances and the likes, and Kevin resists chuckling once he realizes that Edd might have been rehearsing this speech all morning, and possibly all night as well. Edd ends his spiel with, "So if you do pick this school, I want to give _us_ a chance."

Kevin kisses him and says, "Worse comes to worse, I'll be just under four hours away this time. So, I'll still try, regardless of which school I'm at."

Kevin naps for a bit as Edd does some schoolwork, before they head out to brunch. It was just a casual meal, and there wasn't as much flirting as Kevin had expected. However, he absolutely loved the way Edd had flushed and looked away when Kevin snatched the check from him saying, "I'm not going to let my _boyfriend_ pay for this."

They go back to Edd's place to hang out until Kevin's meeting. Kevin tries to ask him about other apartments Edd had looked at, possibly get some insight into the living situation in this town, but Edd was a bit distracted with his phone.

Kevin gets a bit annoyed and steals Edd's phone. "Who you texting?" He teases.

Kevin looks down and sees that Edd's phone was opened to the notes app, and he was simply jotting down reminders about _two -_bedroom apartments he needed to check out. Kevin thought this was cute, but Edd freaking out about Kevin having his phone made him a bit suspicious, and a bit mischievous.

Kevin backs away, keeping the phone out of Edd's reach. "What's wrong with you? You got nudes on here you don't want me to see."

Edd's eyes go wide for a brief moment. "N-no!"

_Liar!_

Kevin runs into the bedroom with the phone, opening the photos app. He's quickly scrolling through, looking for hints of skin. At most there were a few progress pictures, Edd apparently trying to keep track of his workouts and his muscle growth, but they were hardly of the scandalous nature. He ends up scrolling all the way back, and then he finds them. Pictures of himself.

Though, they weren't nudes like Kevin had suspected. There was the first one he ever sent while in college, with him standing in the fieldhouse wearing only bandages and his underwear with purple blotches on it, a combination of a laundry mishap and a football injury. That was the most scandalous one. The rests were just regular pictures. There were quite a few of Kevin's selfies, one or two that Edd took of him on their rare moments together, and the one they took together at Christmas, under the mistletoe.

Edd looks sheepishly at him when Kevin hands back the phone, screen still on so Edd knew he saw. "I just couldn't bring myself to delete them, even after we lost touch."

"But why, Edd?"

"I think all my other confessions and requests these past 24 hours pretty much covered that," Edd said with his voice dripping with annoyance.

"I mean… why the purple underwear one? There were so many other sexy ones! Like with good lighting and posing, but you kept _that_ one!?"

Edd laughed loudly. "Oh! That! Well, the blotches make me smile. It was a funny story. I deleted all the other risqué ones, but that one… I just couldn't…"

Kevin shrugs. "Fair. And I can't really say anything about you keeping the pictures. I have all of yours still."

"All? Like, literal all or-"

"_ALL_."

Edd gulps.

"If you're thinking about the _one and only_ slightly scandalous one you sent me, yes, that's included."

"Oh dear."

Kevin was loving how violently Edd was blushing. He reaches over and feels up Edd's stomach as he says, "Should probably send me an updated one."

Edd slaps his hands away. Kevin pulled him closer and kissed the tip of his nose.

"But for real… you really missed me, didn't you?"

Edd nods against Kevin's chest as Kevin squeezes him into a tight hug.

"God, that makes me feel so much better, because I've been missing you like crazy! There were times I wanted to reach out, but I didn't know if I should, but I worried about you. I wanted to know if you were okay, if you were happy. You were, well, _are_, the most important person to me, and it killed me not knowing if you were alright."

Kevin pulls back just enough to kiss him. When he breaks the kiss, he steps back a few times until the back of his legs hit the bed. He sits down on it, pulling Edd into his lap. He takes his times kissing Edd, showering him with words of affection all throughout, but not pulling back too far when doing so, so Edd continues to pepper his face with soft kisses. He lets Edd know how much he missed him, how much he means to him, how pivotal he was to his life, and how lucky he feels to be with him like this, after all these years.

Kevin wanted to keep going, to drown Edd in his confession, but soon he had to leave for his meeting with his potential future advisor. As Kevin slips his shoes back on, he asks, "Are you sure you want to do this? To try to actually date instead of just flailing around like we usually do?"

Edd laughs. "Yes, well, I do prefer direction and order… Can't wait to see how your mother reacts to us dating even after sticking us in the living room during sleepovers to prevent any kind of shenanigans."

Kevin couldn't help the loud chortle that escaped him. "Well, she had control over that, but she had no control over the Cold War."

"True!" Edd exclaimed, as he covered his giggling mouth with his hand.

As Kevin heads out the door, Edd grabs him, kissing him hard. "Call me later?"

"Of course."

A few weeks later, Kevin finds himself sitting on his bed, holding a financial aid letter in each hand. There was a clear choice. When one school offers full tuition coverage and a stipend, while the other only offers partial tuition waiver, there is no debate on which one is the better deal. Kevin was just glad the better offer was for the school that Edd currently attends.

He knew it was the better program, and now, the better financial deal, but he couldn't deny the fact that it had the added appeal of him finally being with Edd after all this time.

Kevin follows the instructions in his acceptance letter and takes the offer from Edd's school. He spends the next hour or so trying to figure out how he wants to tell Edd. Ultimately, he decides to do it indirectly, and via text, to see how long it takes him to catch on.

_Kev: _Go ahead and get a lease for the two-bedroom. Send me whatever is needed to sign.

Edd replies back immediately.

_Edd_: Fine, but I get the master suite.

Kevin waits impatiently for about three minutes until Edd calls him.

"Why am I getting a two-bedroom? Are you coming here? Did they offer you the better deal? Did you accept? Are you really moving here?"

Kevin has to take a moment to collect himself, he was laughing so hard at how quickly Edd had spat out all those questions.

"Yeah, I'll be there this fall, so-"

Edd squealed loudly and started asking far too many questions about what he'd need for move-in. Kevin entertained him for a bit, but then said, "We have a few months to get ready for that. How about you just tell me about your day?"

"My day?" Edd rushes out. "My day was completely ordinary then my significant other said he'll be moving IN THIS FALL!"

Kevin shakes his head, grinning, before joining in on Edd's excitement.

Kevin moved in that fall, lugging all his furniture by himself while Edd was in two back-to-back summer classes. He had his own bed, but there was no question where he'd be sleeping. When Edd got home, he didn't even bother checking out Kevin's room. As far as he was concerned, that was a guest bedroom, and Kevin would never be a guest to him. Even after terrible fights, as prone to happen after years of marriage, Kevin still shares a bed with Edd.

-the end-


End file.
